


Trust

by annenonymous



Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-19 14:29:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4749836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annenonymous/pseuds/annenonymous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set during Gai and Kakashi's awkward teenage ninja phase.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trust

Gai is just about ready to explode. It's bad enough to undertake a mission without his team, without Ebisu's smarts and Genma's calming presence, without his sensei keeping them all on track. It's even worse that it's an escort mission, and the person he's escorting is the crankiest magistrate he's ever had the misfortune of encountering. But the worst thing is surely that he's sharing this mission with Kakashi, and Kakashi has not only refused every single challenge he's proposed so far, but is also taking full advantage of his rank as jounin to delegate all the stupidest jobs to Gai. At first Gai tried to be a good sport about it, turning every dumb errand into a challenge, but there's only so many times you can see how long you can hold your breath while standing guard outside a bathroom, only so many times you can exercise your facial muscles by smiling for hours on end while your ward recounts another inane story...

The old adage might be that only boring people get bored, but Gai's up against a perfect storm of blandness here. And it's only been three days!

Surely, Gai tells himself, things will get better after they finally drop off their precious human cargo in Kumogakure. Perhaps Kakashi is only being so boring because of his sense of responsibility, his motivation to complete this mission successfully. That thought is the only thing getting him through when the magistrate once again insists he sits next to her bed while she sleeps, and while he's there anyway, could he perhaps read her some of the Kumogakure annual reports regarding trade so she can be more prepared for her appointments...

Gai is a ninja, so he obliges. He's been hired to do a job, after all. But he's seething inside, and that's not made any better when he detects a familiar chakra signature sneaking out of the inn, unmistakably in the direction of of a konyokuburo they passed on the way here.

The next morning, they reach their destination, and the magistrate departs without a word of thanks. Finally, Gai turns around, hoping to vent a little about this to his rival...

Kakashi's already gone.

"Kakashiiii!" he yells, startling the old woman, but he doesn't waste any time by apologizing to her, and launches after his rival. The land here is unfamiliar, so it's slower going than it would otherwise have been, had he been chasing Kakashi around the Konoha forests. Before long he realizes he's lost his rival, and it takes every shred of discipline in him not to curse his rival's name right there and then.

In this situation, all he can do is get back to Konoha quickly, and give Kakashi a piece of his mind. When night falls, however, he decides to rest up a bit in a conveniently located inn. Just as he's discussing room rates with the young man behind the counter, a hand touches his shoulder.

He turns around, and is only slightly surprised to see that mop of gray hair. "Gai-kun," Kakashi says, and he smiles behind his mask. "Don't bother. You can stay in my room tonight."  
Gai opens his mouth to protest, but his words die in his mouth when Kakashi pats his shoulder affectionately. "It's the least I can do for my hard-working rival, right?"  
"I suppose this last mission was taxing," Gai reluctantly agrees, squinting at Kakashi. "Well, thank you, Kakashi."  
"It's no problem," Kakashi replies, in that tone of voice which Gai has long since known to mean that a problem will definitely reveal itself, and soon.

'Soon' turns out to be after dinner, when Kakashi is undressing. "Hey, Gai?" he says. "Would you mind watching over me tonight...?"  
"Eh?" Gai's already shimmying out of his spandex. "What?"  
"Could you stand guard?" Kakashi slowly explains, as if speaking to an especially dim-witted child.  
"What?! I thought you said I could sleep in your room tonight!" Gai flushes with indignation.  
"I said you could stay in my room," Kakashi replies placidly, and slips underneath the covers. "Anyway, I appreciate it... you’re the only one I trust to do this."  
His breathing slows down almost immediately, and Gai knows his rival well enough. He's not pretending. He's actually asleep. Unbelievable! Does Kakashi think he can placate him with such a dumb line? Trust... trust has nothing to do with it!!

Gai, despite himself, shrugs his spandex on again, and goes to stand in the middle of the room, arms petulantly folded. He's used to staying awake for long stretches, and his sheer anger at the way Kakashi's been treating him has his adrenaline surging, too. It gets darker and darker in their little room, one bed occupied, one bed vacant. Time slows to a crawl, and after a while Gai can barely tell if it's been five minutes or two hours.

It feels like a lifetime has passed when there's a rustling sound from Kakashi's bed. His eyes are somehow bright in the darkness of the room, and his Sharingan eye especially seems to be lit from within. "Gai?" he whispers.  
"All clear," Gai replies curtly.  
"You're still awake?"  
"I'm standing guard, aren't I?"  
"You're actually doing it?"  
Gai bristles. "You asked me to!"  
"But the mission is over, Gai... you don't have to put up with me anymore. You know that, right?" Gai can hear the grin in Kakashi's voice and it pisses him off.  
"You think I put up with you because of the mission? We're friends, Kakashi! If you ask me to do something, I'll do it. Even if I don't like it. It's because I want to help you out."

Kakashi is silent for a long time, and Gai suspects he may have fallen asleep again.  
However: "You idiot. You should catch some sleep."  
Gai is about to rile against being called an idiot, but there is something about the way Kakashi said it, and before he can analyze it fully Kakashi throws the covers off of him. "I'm serious," Kakashi says.  
Gai doesn't hesitate much longer. In two steps he's out of his spandex. In four steps he's lying next to Kakashi. "So your attitude during this mission was just another joke," he huffs.  
"I wasn't joking about the trust," Kakashi replies, and for once, the way he winds his legs around Gai's leave no doubt in Gai's mind about the truth of his words.


End file.
